Homeowner Activity

Alert visitors might recall the excitement over this addition to my hovel:
(click image to enlarge)


But wait, there's more! While the overhead sewer line provides greater insurance against sewage backups, high river and water table levels still burble beneath my basement. AND, to complicate matters, arctic temperatures of late rendered my sump pump useless, because the water froze and cracked the pipe running outside.

Enter the Basement Watchdog! Behold my sleek new battery backup system complete with a sweet bypass that allows me to pump the water to a location that shall remain secret, since it's technically a little bit "illegal" by village standards. Hey, ya know what should be illegal? "Storing" city sewage in people's basements because you don't have enough *&^%#! capacity in the system and then shrugging your shoulders when people complain about it! I got yer "inflow and infiltration" right here, pal! Alrightythen.




Here's a close up of the bypass valves -- they deserve their own photo.



You didn't see this photo here. Snaps to my handyman, Tim, for the ingenious installation, plus the addition of a new outlet pipe outside, which I didn't bother to photograph because it's not nearly as exciting as THIS.



Moving on, there's been a short burst of potholder activity, as I received a cheery supply of new loops in bold new colors. However, nothing's been documented, so you'll have to take my word for it. Photos coming soon!


To those who've asked about bread baking, YES! I did more or less perfect my Latvian Sourdough Rye bread recipe! Or were you just hinting that you wanted some? I make it on weekends because it takes two days to prepare (but it's not difficult -- if it were, trust me, I wouldn't be making it). Recently I've been packaging bread with my handy dandy food saver vacuum thingee so I can store a loaf or two in the deep freeze. I don't think I'll want to make this bread when the weather is warmer, because I have to turn the oven to 400. It's definitely a cold-day activity. Anyway, it's delicious, and even Lenore's mom liked it. If you want the recipe/process, let me know and maybe I'll post it.

Lenore gave me a sushi outing for xmas, so we went last weekend with Roland and Amy. I had the "dragon black," which was splendid (left side). I had to call Odie in FL to confirm my order though, because there were three dragons on the menu. Roland, what did you and Amy order? Lenore's chicken dish was also fabulous. We like this place a lot, though it's always cold in there, so we ate with scarfs and hats on. I wonder if they got the hint.





After dinner we all watched Ghost Town. I'm only mentioning it because we all enjoyed it so much. Really funny.